Summary
- “Under Promise, Over Delivering” is a fundamental strategy to achieve success at work
- What is under promising: it’s not copping out of responsibilities, but rather promising the “average” of what is customarily expected
- Over delivering: is going above and beyond, providing what is expected ahead of schedule, providing results that exceed expectations, and/or anticipating questions and answering them proactively
- Consistent work ethic under the UPOD premise should get you the deserved recognition
One of the ways to advance in your career is by consistently over delivering. I’ll say that again… Consistently. Over Delivering.
This advice works even if you’re not working in company mail room. bah-dum. I’m not talking about choosing to ship between FedEx or UPS. bah-dum. I’ll be here 24/7 folks. 😉 Okay, jokes aside…
Better yet. Under Promise. Then Over Deliver. Or “UPOD” for those who appreciate acronyms.
What is Under Promising?
Under Promising is not copping out of real responsibilities. If you are given an assignment, by default, your team and/or manager are expecting a certain level of performance from you. Let’s say that level of performance is “average”. Whatever average means depends on the your organization, its culture and expectations.
Should you volunteer for a task, you should be promising to do what is expected of an “average-performing” employee. Your colleagues and manager would not expect or tolerate anything less. So when the opportunity presents itself, volunteer yourself for an assignment. But manage their expectation for “average” results.
Speaking of managing expectations, be sure you and other stakeholders have a mutual understanding of:
- the entry criteria: what you need to begin the task
- the process: how you will go about performing the task
- any dependencies: what you need in order to complete the task, including need for any special help from subject matter experts, approvals at interim checkpoints, etc.
- the exit criteria: what done looks like (this is important!)
so that there are no surprises. We speak in terms on generalities, so you’ll have to finesse the details as applicable to your situation.
In any case, remember to accept your new assignment, whether it was assigned or volunteered, with grace, enthusiasm, initiative, and engagement. Be positive. It’s an opportunity to shine.
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